Perfection Valley
Perfection Valley is an ironically named patch of swampy dirt in the northwestern corner of Kassun. It's a harsh and unfriendly place right up against a series of hills and slight valleys known as the Karaskatta Ridge. The summers are painfully hot, and the winters are bitterly cold. Within the valley there's basically no protection or cover from wind, sun, or rain that isn't man-made. Most of the foliage consists of either petrified plants or extremely hardy leafless plants that don't provide a lick of protection- the mostly flat land is prone to dustbowls when the winds kick up because of this. About the only thing of value in the whole valley, aside from recent archaeological discoveries, is the mushy valley soil. This soil is extremely nutrient rich as a result of magical residues that invigorate it, greatly enhancing its overall quality. The Valley boasts a small population of dirt farmers who work to cultivate and further enrich the soil so that it can be traded and sold off to places with poor quality soil. These 'farmers' aren't really much of farmers though- they are the remnants of a Centauri tribe, the Dawn-Watchers. The tribe was decimated some hundred years ago while trying to root out and destroy the Yuan-ti in Ameros's Dalko region, and were hunted by the demon-worshiping snakefolk all the way to Kassun, where they were promptly annihilated by the Ssilra, who took a rather dim view of the infernalists. The Thysaeran Republic offered them any land they wished to rebuild their tribe in safety, and Perfection Valley was ultimately chosen. Sadly, the Dawn-Watchers have not been able to rebuild as they have been trying. They appreciate the land for its harshness and agricultural viability, but the valley has become an important battlefield in the Dragon Wars, and has been infested with a particularly ferocious breed of Bulettes for as long as anyone can remember. Today, the town of Progression is the only bastion of civilization in all of the Valley. The best efforts of the Dawn-Watchers to repopulate their tribe has mostly been a failure- the Valley is positively infested with several particularly aggressive and fierce breeds of Bulettes, Wyverns, and giant insects which have seen to it that the population of Progression remains at around three hundred some-odd individuals. The extremes of Nature's Darwinism have yielded a breed of Centauri which are even tougher and more implaccable than the average. They are almost excessively harsh and swift at doling out justice when it comes time for punishing transgressions, but if their ire is not aroused they are a very generous and hospitable group. They have to be, as everyone counts on everyone else for safety and succor when wild animals batter at the walls or Dragons start battling overhead. Progression is overseen by Sheriff Thomas "Wrist-Breaker" Beaulieu- a pleasant and fair old Elf, but also a gruff one who just wants his town to be peaceful and quiet, and becomes quite agitated when that peace and quiet is broken. Aside from the angry wildlife, life in Progression was pleasantly simple for the Centauri there, and then Dragons showed up and now it's a very active trading post and home to more games of cloak and dagger than there are cloaks and daggers in the region. The reason for all this is what lies below the Valley's surface, hidden in old subterranean stratums built by the Ancients, almost completely inaccessible except through tedious excavation. There are a number of pre-Human ruins, made by the Dragons and a few by the Draconids, that both the Chromatic and Metallic Dragons want to get their claws on- for reasons unexplained, of course. The desire to control those ruins and whatever secrets they may hold has brought in at least a couple dozen older Wyrms and their retinues and armies, and that has in turn brought the Thysaeran Republic's military into it, dozens of privately funded archaeological teams, and other nations' forces sometimes get dragged in as well, not to mention Freelancers of all sorts- much to the chagrin of the Centauri. The refusal of the townsfolk to leave or take any sides have made them quite the hotspot; so many people are hoping to take over the town or drive the Centauri off, but completely unable to, that it's become the only place for anyone to do business with a measure of safety. The Dawn-Watchers have exploited the needs of those armies and, in so doing, been able to fortify Progression to being a nigh-indestructible fortress, built with the best materials by the most skilled and talented artisans and engineers. Progression is now second only to Wyrmerract in terms of being a hub for Draconic politics, trade, and debates, though with quite a bit less oversight. The newfound importance of Perfection Valley has a lot of eyes all over Scylla focused on it, waiting to see what happens as the Dragons' conflicts intensify. The Centauri townies are ostensibly on good terms with the Thysaeran Elves who granted them the land, and get slow but steady trickles of magical support from the Thysaerans, but it's unlikely they'll ever have the power needed to actively drive all the Dragons out of their lands. The percentage of independent scavengers, explorers, and Freelancers has been slowly rising over the years- some hoping to try and get to the Draconic ruins below the surface, others to salvage from the aftermaths of the Dragons' battles, and tensions are slowly on the rise. It's widely believed that the region has become something of a powder keg with a very sensitive fuse, but who will get hurt most by the blast should it go off is as of yet unknown. Kassun Back to Main Page